Martha Lively now offering dance classes at Mohawk

BUCKLAND — Dance instructor and director Martha Lively is offering “Lively Dance” classes for the first time at Mohawk Trail Regional High School.

Tuesday classes at Mohawk include Pre-Ballet (ages 4 years old to second grade) 3:45 to 4:30 p.m.; Hip-Hop (grades 4 to 8) from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.; Teen Jazz, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and Adult Dance Exercise from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

According to Mohawk Principal Lynn Dole, Lively is bringing her program to the high school as part of an effort to bring arts programs to the forefront at Mohawk.

“Her dance classes are one of many activities we are promoting at our school as learning opportunities for our students,” said Dole. “We already have a well-developed athletic program but wanted students to have other options as well. Martha’s dance is one of several.”

The program will also enable students who started dancing at the elementary schools to continue with their dance programs while moving up through high school, says Lively. The programs are offered to the general public, as well as a range of age groups. Classes continue throughout the school year, and end with a Dance Concert in June.

Lively also offers fitness classes for the community at several schools. At Mohawk, she is offering an Adult Dance Exercise class, which moves to upbeat music and combines aerobics with some basic dance moves. The class will be 35 minutes of dance followed by 20 minutes of exercises. At Sanderson Academy in Ashfield, an Adult Core Workout is offered.

The adult workouts are $5 per class; dance classes for students range between $6.50 and $7 each. Lively said the rates have been reduced for the schools.

“We feel it’s extremely important to get the arts into the schools,” said Lively. “We have found a lot of people in the hilltowns can’t travel to Greenfield or Northampton to take dance, so we bring it to them.”

A Heath native, Lively is a Mohawk graduate who studied performing arts in college. After moving to New York City in 1988, she continued her dance training. In 1993, she co-founded “Kids Community Dance Project” and “Movement Together” which were recognized by the New York State Department of Health as “outstanding programs that involved the community with dance.”